Hey, true believers! With Avengers: Age of Ultron hitting theaters this Friday, it means it’s product placement time. The Audi R8 has been Iron Man’s ride of choice on several occasions, but this time, a different Audi is the personal shuttle of a different sort of hero: Captain Cameo, better known as his not-so-secret identity of Stan Lee.
The legendary comic book writer and publisher has played a large part in the creation of many of our favorite superheroes, so it’s only fitting that when Marvel began bringing those characters to life on the big screen, he’d get a small background blink-and-you’ll-miss role. This cheeky nod to fans expanded into a Marvel movie mainstay, and this latest commercial has Lee teaching a workshop on how to “cameo act,” which is drastically different from real acting.
Lee arrives at the workshop in the Audi S8, a car we find to be exceptional and appropriate for any occasion. In fact, it was very close to becoming our 2015 luxury car of the year. Its twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 doesn’t get lots of action in this spot, but it does subsequently manage to upstage Mr. Lee as master of Cameos.
Directed by Kevin Smith, the commercial stars actors like Michael Rooker of The Walking Dead and Guardians of the Galaxy setting aside years of proper acting training to learn from Stan Lee on how to be … just some dude. TV’s original Hulk, Lou Ferrigno, makes few cameos himself, bursting through the doors looking for anger management classes.
We’ll see what roll Audi has cast its vehicles in the upcoming action blockbuster, and we’ll certainly keep an eye for an appearance by our favorite energetic 90-year-old. ‘Nuff Said!
